03 Jul 2022

Organisations have been urged to accommodate people with disabilities and enable them to perform to the best of their abilities in their workplaces.

Botswana Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (BABPS) coordinator, Mr Omphemetse Ramabokwa said this during a service providers’ forum in Francistown recently.

He said as a blind person himself, he found it unfair for blind people to be offered packages, as if they were mentally unable to perform.

He encouraged all departments to review their policies to identify and resolve obstacles that hindered people with disabilities from performing.

Mr Ramabokwa expressed concern about organisations with job requirements that dismissed people with disabilities before they were fully tested to determine their suitability to do the job.

Physical requirements that seemed to be the major hindrance, he said, did not show equality, saying many disabled persons had ideas and were innovative enough to bring change, if given the opportunity.

According to the latest research, he said, blindness was the fastest growing disability in Botswana, hence the need to integrate those who could not see.

Mr Ramabokwa said BABPS offered advocacy for the rights of the blind or partially blind, adding that the organisation also rehabilitated and orientated them to believe that they could still participate in daily activities, despite the stigma.

Francistown assistant district commissioner, Ms Tebogo Hlabano said it was everyone’s responsibility to ensure that everyone else’s rights were protected, including giving people with disabilities the dignity they deserved.

She said the nation should change its way of thinking that took away from other people, especially those with disabilities, adding, ‘be an advocate, a game changer and bring awareness to inequalities that arise around disability issues’.

Ms Hlabano called on individuals to incorporate knowledge into everyday life and make all aspects of life friendly for those with disabilities and urged every department to have conducive infrastructure for the disabled to be able to work well with the rest of the workforce.

She advocated for focal persons in every department to create an enabling environment for people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, World Disability Day will be held in November to raise awareness as well as educate the nation on how to live with those who were less fortunate. ENDS